EDAC fixation increases the demonstrability of biogenic amines in the unicellular Tetrahymena: A flow cytometric and confocal microscopic comparative analysis

Earlier experiments demonstrated the presence of hormones of the higher ranked animals in Tetrahymena. In the present experiments two fixatives, paraformaldehyde, which is commonly used and a carbodiimide, EDAC that was recommended by Panula et al. for the immunocytochemistry of histamine, are compared in Tetrahymena for the demonstration of histamine and serotonin by using flow cytometry and confocal microscopy. Both hormone levels were significantly higher after EDAC fixation; serotonin almost doubled and histamine was more than fivefold. The confocal microscopic pictures were clearer and the hormones' localization was easier. The results support earlier observations on the presence of these hormones in Tetrahymena and points to the advantage of EDAC fixation for demonstrating these hormones immunocytochemically.